The    Country- 
Sunday  School 


Rev.  Might  C.  Moore 


[*     DEC  29 1908      * 
( 


IX.   2.9.08 


N^  PRINCETON,  N.J.  *^ 


BV  1524  .M66  1906 

Moore,  Right  C,  1871-1957. 

The  country  Sunday-school 


The 
Country  Sunday- School 


BY 

Rev.  HIGHT  C.  MOORE 

Smidav- school  Missionary  for  North  Carolina 


Philadelphia 
Bmerican  JBaptist  publication  Society 

1630  Chestnut  Street 


Copyright  igo6  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society 


Published  June,  1906 


3From  tbe  Sodet^e's  own  iPress 


CONTENTS 

I.  A  Country  Boy  in  Sunday-School 5 


PAGE 


II.  A   Successful  Sunday-School   in   the 

COUNTRY 13 


III.  What  Can  be  Done  in  a  Country  Sunday- 
School  21 


THE 

Country  Sunday-School 


A  COUNTRY  BOY  IN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

HE  was  only  an  ordinary  boy ;  there  were  and 
are  plenty  of  others  far  brighter  and  better 
than  he.  But  he  was  a  real  boy,  not  an  imaginary 
one.  That  he  was  a  country  boy,  there  could  be  no 
doubt ;  he  was  born  in  a  lovely  but  remote  valley 
among  the  mountains  and  the  nearest  railway 
station  was  twenty-six  miles  away.  The  com- 
munity life  centered  in  the  little  church  of  sixty- 
odd  members  tended  monthly  by  the  faithful 
pastor  from  the  other  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 
The  Sunday-school  had  an  attendance  of  perhaps 
half  a  hundred,  but  it  wilted  under  the  hottest 
summer  day,  and  became  entirely  dormant  as 
winter  drew  on.  A  genuine  country  boy  he  was 
in  a  genuine  country  Sunday-school ;  and  what 
that  Sunday-school  did  for  that  boy  other  Sunday- 

5 


6  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

schools  with  no  better  equipment  can  do  for  other 
boys  and  girls. 

THE   HOME  BEFORE  THE   SCHOOL 

Yes,  the  home  before  and  beneath  and  about 
the  Sunday-school  to  make  it  of  most  effect. 
This  boy's  father  dragged  his  crippled  body  over 
every  foot  of  that  valley  farm  and  made  it  blossom 
as  the  rose,  yet  never  in  liis  life  did  he  make  a 
public  speech  or  lead  in  prayer.  His  mother, 
mistress  of  many  homely  arts  from  the  cook-stove 
and  wash-tub  to  nursing  the  sick  and  training  chil- 
dren, never  read  a  society  essay  or  figured  in  a 
concert.  But  their  lives  were  more  eloquent  than 
speech,  more  musical  than  song,  and  no  one  could 
live  in  their  home,  guest  or  child,  without  feeling 
the  glow  of  their  practical  piety.  Their  Bible  bore 
on  its  title-page  the  familiar  verse :  *  *  Remember 
now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth.'*  It 
was  the  first  verse  their  first-born  ever  learned  and 
the  first  of  many  lessons  they  taught  him  out  of 
the  word  of  God.  Long  the  Sunday-school  was 
presided  over  by  his  grandfather  who,  starting  the 
school  one  summer,  had  said:  "If  only  one 
person  comes  to  Sunday-school  and  he  is  a  Negro, 
I  will  teach  him  the  word  of  the  Lord.*'  His 
grandmother  had  loaned  him  "Pilgrim's  Progress  " 
which  he  read  with  eager  interest,  the  first  book  he 


A  COUNTRY  BOY   IN   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  7 

ever  read  entire.  She  also  gave  him  a  dime  to 
read  the  Bible  from  the  first  to  where  the  children 
of  Israel  were  settled  in  Canaan.  How  big  was 
that  dime !  It  made  him  feel  richer  than  Vander- 
bilt ;  but  the  real  prize  he  had  won  was  a  taste  for 
the  Bible  which  led  him  on  through  those  peerless 
pages.  With  such  parents  and  grandparents, 
where  else  could  that  barefoot  mountain  lad  think 
of  going,  or  feel  like  going,  on  the  day  of  the 
Lord  than  to  the  house  of  the  Lord? 

A   SUMMER  OF  SCRIPTURE  MEMORIZING 

Meager  was  the  mechanical  and  literary  equip- 
ment of  that  little  country  Sunday-school :  only 
one  room,  high  and  uncomfortable  benches,  a  few 
Bibles  and  hymn-books — that  comprised  it.  The 
exercises  consisted  mainly  of  singing  and  of  read- 
ing the  Bible,  with  a  teacher  who  commented  upon 
it.  One  summer  it  was  decided  to  offer  the  chil- 
dren prizes  for  memorizing  Scripture;  a  Bible  for 
the  one  who  could  recite  to  his  teacher  the  most 
verses  during  the  summer ;  a  New  Testament  for 
the  one  who  should  come  next.  This  boy  was 
one  of  the  contestants.  Rest  hours  from  farm 
work,  rainy  days,  and  Sundays,  were  spent  com- 
mitting Scripture  to  memory.  But  when  the  last 
Sunday  of  the  season  came  he  found  that  he  had 
missed  that  attractive  Bible,  and  the  beautiful  red 


8  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

leather  Testament  had  gone  to  another ;  all  he  got 
was  a  paper  sack  of  candy  and  peanuts !  Yet, 
was  that  all?  Ah,  much  of  the  Scripture  he  carried 
into  manhood,  food  for  his  own  soul  and  through 
him  for  others,  was  learned  during  that  summer  in 
that  ill-equipped  Sunday-school.  Hardly  more 
than  a  dozen  Sundays,  but  for  him  surely  they 
were  not  in  vain. 

JOINING  THE  CHURCH 

And  do  you  wonder  that  this  lad  went  from  the 
Sunday-school  into  the  church?  Spiritual  parents, 
pious  neighbors,  the  most  careful  religious  instruc- 
tion in  day-school,  the  most  earnest  preaching 
every  month — all  these  could  not  be  without  effect. 
A  meeting  was  held  one  March  and  this  twelve- 
year-old  boy  was  one  of  several  who  stood  up 
confessing  Christ.  On  the  way  home  that  day, 
his  father  asked  him  about  his  decision  and  his 
mother  further  questioned  him;  both  were  satis- 
fied, and  so  he  was  one  of  fourteen  who  were  im- 
mersed in  the  crystal  stream  that  swept  through 
the  valley.  To  that  profession  and  hope  he  clung 
with  increasing  joy  through  the  years. 

CHURCH   WORK  A  BOY  COULD   DO 

Not  much  to  be  sure,  and  no  great  field  for  it. 
But  the  field  was  large  enough  for  the  boy  and 


A  COUNTRY  BOY  IN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  g 

there  were  kind  voices  to  indicate  what  he  could 
do  and  to  encourage  him  in  it.  First,  to  read  a 
passage  of  Scripture  or  selection  from  a  good  book 
in  the  prayer-meeting  following  the  school ;  later, 
to  conduct  the  prayer-meeting,  though  he  could  do 
little  more  than  announce  hymns,  read  Scripture, 
call  on  some  one  else  to  lead  in  prayer,  and  de- 
clare the  meeting  open ;  then  to  have  an  occa- 
sional prayer-service  with  a  handful  of  fellow- 
students  among  the  laurels  by  the  riverside ;  then 
to  take  an  intermediate  class  in  the  Sunday-school 
and  teach  the  best  he  could;  sometimes  to  con- 
duct morning  prayers  in  the  day-school  when  the 
teacher  was  sick  or  away ;  once  or  twice  to  be  the 
junior  delegate  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. These  and  such  things  he  was  called 
upon  to  do;  little  things  perhaps  in  the  eyes  of 
others,  and  unimportant  in  themselves  most  cer- 
tainly, but  to  him  they  were  neither  little  nor  un- 
important. Poorly  he  did  them,  with  many  a  blush 
and  stammer,  but  they  prepared  him  for  somewhat 
better  in  later  years. 

HOLDING  A  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  HIMSELF 

One  Saturday  his  mother  sent  him  across  the 
mountain  eastward  to  a  neighboring  valley  in 
search  of  some  cows  that  had  strayed  av/ay.  As 
he  started  she  asked  him  to  see  if  he  could  not 


10  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

arrange  for  a  Sunday-school  at  a  schoolhouse  in 
that  vicinity.  Inquiring  here  and  there  about  the 
missing  cows  and  the  proposed  Sunday-school,  he 
returned  home  in  the  afternoon  without  the  cows, 
but  with  an  appointment  for  Sunday-school  the 
next  day.  On  the  back  of  faithful  "  Duck,"  one 
of  the  farm  mules,  over  the  mountain  he  went  next 
day,  and  at  the  schoolhouse  in  the  shady  hollow  a 
little  Sunday-school  was  organized.  Simple  was 
the  service,  not  conducted  in  the  best  style  perhaps, 
but  it  was  a  beginning  for  him  and  for  the  thirty 
or  more  people  that  assembled,  the  beginning  of 
two  seasons  of  very  happy  and  resultful  work. 
And  when  **Duck"  carried  the  lad-superintendent 
back  over  the  mountain  homeward  that  afternoon — 
what  do  you  think  ? — there  were  the  cows,  returned 
of  their  own  accord  and  standing  in  the  barnyard. 

THE  FIRST  SERMON 

Yes,  somehow  or  other  your  country  lad  from 
his  godly  home  and  out  of  a  backwoods  Sunday- 
school  often  wriggles  upward  into  the  pulpit.  He 
may  reach  there  too  soon  or,  maybe,  though 
young,  he  enters  it  in  the  fulness  of  time.  At 
any  rate,  this  lad  in  the  very  month  he  was  seven- 
teen was  granted  license  to  preach.  And  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  home  on  his  first  vacation  from 
college,  he  was  given  opportunity  to  make  proof 


A  COUNTRY  BOY  IN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  II 

of  his  ministry.  The  people  of  the  valley  gathered 
that  Sabbath  to  hear  him.  He  would  not  ascend 
the  high-built  pulpit,  but  stood  by  the  table  in 
front  of  it.  His  voice  was  not  steady  when  he 
announced  his  text:  "They  took  knowledge  of 
them  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus."  Not  quite 
twenty  minutes  he  spoke.  Sympathetically  his 
kinsmen  and  neighbors  listened,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  service  came  to  him  with  words  of  en- 
couragement. And  as  he  extended  to  each  the 
hand  of  appreciation,  his  aged  grandsire  back  in 
the  "amen  corner,"  with  full  heart  said  in  firm 
tone:  "Don't  puff  him!"  The  son  of  such 
parents  was  not  likely  to  be  an  egotist,  but  these 
three  words  of  that  deeply  interested  father  in 
Israel  came  back  a  thousand  times  over  to  that 
boy  when  elsewhere  and  before  larger  audiences  it 
was  his  good  fortune  to  receive  words  of  praise. 

WHAT  OUR   LESSON  IS 

And  now  let  that  country  lad  step  back  nameless 
out  of  sight.  But  let  the  country  Sunday-school 
and  church  come  afresh  to  the  front.  If  the  actual 
experience  just  related  teaches  anything,  it  ought  to 
impress  upon  us  these  things  regarding  the  country 
Sunday-school :  With  all  its  imperfections  it  is  cer- 
tainly v/orth  something  to  a  community,  a  church, 
and  the  cause  of  Christ. 


12  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

It  is  situated  so  as  to  be  of  particular  service  in 
filling  with  Scripture  material  the  receptive  minds 
of  the  young. 

It  can  so  instruct  and  inspire  the  children  espe- 
cially that  they  may  be  early  converted  and  enlisted 
in  the  service  of  Christ. 

It  may  often  send  out  some  of  its  forces  to  or- 
ganize and  conduct  Sunday-schools  and  prayer 
services  in  less  favored  neighborhoods. 

It  should  so  train  its  members  that  some  of 
them  may  become  ministers,  many  of  them  Sun- 
day-school workers,  and  all  of  them  efficient, 
active,  faithful  Christians. 

And  so  may  God  bless  the  country  Sunday- 
school  ! 


II 


A  SUCCESSFUL  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  IN 
THE  COUNTRY 

STATE  of  North  Carolina,  county  of  Wake, 
vicinity  of  Apex,  church  of  Olive's  Chapel, 
W.  S.  Olive,  pastor:  here  is  the  successful  country 
Sunday-school  of  which  I  write — type  of  the  best 
rural  work,  a  test  of  methods  in  theory  and  prac- 
tice, a  triumph  of  simplicity  in  management  and 
spirituality  in  achievement. 

PASTOR  AND  PEOPLE 

It  was  never  truer  than  in  this  case  that  the 
pastor  has  much  to  do  with  the  success  of  the 
teaching  work  in  his  churches.  Spend  a  Saturday 
night  in  June  with  him  and  get  a  guest's  glimpse 
of  this  household  of  faith— the  head  a  Wake 
Forest  graduate,  his  wife  with  an  Oxford  diploma, 
and  their  two  bright  little  daughters  maturing  in 
an  atmosphere  of  culture  and  devotion.  Of  course 
there  are  evidences  of  thrift  on  every  hand :  corn 
in  the  crib,  cattle  in  the  meadow,  chickens  in  the 
yard,  vegetables  in  the  garden,  a  miniature  grocery 
in  the  cellar,  cold  water  in  the  rock-penetrating 

13 


14  THE  COUNTRY   SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

well.  There  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  broad 
acres  around  him  with  fertile  fields  and  heavy 
woodlands,  the  spot  of  his  nativity  and  the  arena 
of  his  activities.  Croquet  for  diversion;  the  hol- 
lows resonant  with  the  evening  chorus  of  whippoor- 
wills ;  the  great,  round  moon  coming  up  as  our 
cheerful  unsleeping  sentinel  throughout  the  night. 
You  feel  that  here  is  a  man  of  God  who  loves  his 
people  and  is  as  heartily  loved  by  them;  visits 
them  in  their  homes;  responds  day  or  night,  in 
heat  or  cold,  to  the  call  for  his  presence  and 
counsel ;  a  vigorous  mind,  a  sturdy  common  sense, 
the  leader's  hand,  the  shepherd's  heart,  the  con- 
secrated life  has  this  shepherd  of  a  rural  flock. 

And  what  a  noble  church  has  rallied  around  him 
for  this  fortnight  of  years  1  The  very  stamina  of  our 
citizenship,  three  hundred  and  fifty  strong  accord- 
ing to  the  church  register,  but  many  hundreds 
more  under  its  direct  influence.  Draw  around  the 
church  a  circle  eight  or  ten  miles  in  diameter  and 
you  have  its  well-nigh  undisputed  local  field — an 
area  embracing  rich  cotton  and  tobacco  lands  and 
containing,  at  a  random  estimate,  a  population  of 
fifteen  hundred.  It  is  the  country  of  Yates,  the 
illustrious  missionary,  and  of  Olive,  the  home-land 
hero,  for  whom  the  church  was  named.  Preach- 
iag  the  first  and  third  Saturdays  and  Sundays  in 
each  month ;  the  freest  and  fairest  of  discipline ; 


A  SUCCESSFUL  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  15 

contributions  to  all  the  benevolent  objects  of  the 
denomination ;  the  care  of  the  poor,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, old  '*  Aunt  Mary  "  (colored),  still  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church,  and  now  said  to  be  a  decade 
beyond  a  round  century  in  the  flesh ! 

Under  such  a  pastor,  among  such  a  people,  and 
in  such  a  church,  what  else  would  you  expect  but 
a  successful  Sunday-school? 

THE  CHURCH  AMONG  THE  OAKS 

Over,  then,  to  the  church  soon  after  9  o'clock 
Sunday  morning  to  attend  Sunday-school.  Many 
others  have  gone  already — some  in  buggies  and 
carriages,  some  in  wagons  and  carts,  some  on 
horseback,  some  afoot.  There  stands  the  church 
building  on  a  commanding  knoll ;  seating  capacity 
eight  hundred;  white  painted,  with  green  trim- 
mings ;  the  tower  enclosing  a  bell.  The  church 
premises  include  seven  full  acres ;  a  little  clearing 
for  the  graveyard;  spacious  and  well-shaded 
grounds  around  the  sanctuary;  a  lot  for  the 
school  building  hard-by;  and  the  balance  wood- 
land. Here  is  the  center  of  a  great  community's 
educational,  social,  and  spiritual  life. 

HOW  THE   HOUR   IS  SPENT 

Promptly  at  9.45  A.  M.  the  superintendent  calls 
the  school  to  order,  announces  two  songs,  reads 


l6  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Scripture,  offers  prayer,  and  turns  over  the  classes 
to  their  teachers.  After  allowing  a  full  thirty 
minutes  for  the  teaching  period,  he  calls  the 
school  together  again,  asks  a  brother  to  lead  in 
prayer,  offers  some  remarks  applying  the  lesson, 
calls  for  the  secretary's  report,  makes  room  for  a 
quartet,  and  then  closes  the  school,  saying:  "  The 
school  is  dismissed  till  next  Sunday  morning, 
fifteen  minutes  to  10  o'clock." 

A  very  simple  order  of  service,  and  yet  note 
about  it  these  things:  (1)  Began  on  time.  (2) 
The  Scripture  read  was  a  side-light  on  the  day's 
lesson.  (3)  A  full  half-hour  was  allowed  for 
teaching.  (4)  The  teaching  period  was  imme- 
diately preceded  and  followed  by  prayer.  (5) 
The  lesson  was  applied  in  a  few  apt  remarks  by 
the  superintendent.  (6)  Special  music  was  intro- 
duced. (7)  The  very  minute  for  the  next  session 
was  announced,  thus  promoting  punctuality. 

THE  CLASSES  AT  WORK 

The  pupils  are  arranged  in  nine  classes :  two  of 
them  adult,  men  in  one  and  women  in  the  other; 
three  advanced,  young  men  and  women  in  each; 
two  intermediate,  composed  of  boys  and  girls ; 
and  two  primary,  the  larger  one  made  up  of  the 
beginners  and  the  other  of  those  a  little  above  them 
in  age  or  attainment.     The  latter  classes  meet  in 


A   SUCCESSFUL  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  17 

the  school  building  where  they  can  have  separate 
rooms,  little  desks,  blackboard  and  other  teach- 
ing appliances ;  the  other  classes  meet  in  the  church 
auditorium,  T-shaped,  and  for  a  one-room  struc- 
ture unusually  well-adapted  for  Sunday-school 
work.  The  class  roll  is  called  and  then  laid 
aside ;  if  a  member  comes  in  late  he  gets  no  credit 
on  the  record  for  being  present.  The  collection 
always  goes  to  benevolence,  since  the  expenses 
of  the  school  are  defrayed  out  of  the  general 
church  expense  fund ;  thus  the  entire  contributions 
for  one  quarter  will  go  to  foreign  missions ;  for 
another  to  home  missions ;  for  a  third  to  State 
missions ;  and  for  the  last  to  the  Orphanage. 
Coming  to  the  teaching  work  and  speaking  for 
one  class,  namely  the  class  of  men,  just  forty 
present,  and  all  heads  of  families,  the  method  of 
teaching  was  quite  effective :  instead  of  question- 
ing closely  as  to  facts  or  himself  lecturing  the 
class,  the  teacher  simply  asked  several  members 
successively:  **  What  did  you  get  out  of  the  study 
of  this  lesson?"  The  responses  were  generally 
prompt,  thoughtful,  and  suggestive.  A  glance 
around  the  auditorium  and  into  the  primary  rooms 
revealed  the  fact  that  all  the  classes  were  very 
attentive  and  evidently  being  well  taught.  Good, 
faithful  teaching  of   the   Scriptures — -that   is   the 

center  and  substance  of  the  Sunday-school. 
B 


l8  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

The  facts  just  mentioned  are  worth  a  glance 
deeper.  Notice  classification;  the  books  usually 
advise  mixed  classes  of  little  children  and  of 
adults,  but  separate  classes  for  boys  and  girls. 
Here  that  rule  is  disregarded — and  evidently  good 
work  is  done — for  all  classes  are  mixed  except  the 
adults.  Again,  in  utilizing  rooms  in  the  school 
building  for  the  primary  classes  there  is  a  sugges- 
tion for  others.  The  matter  of  the  school's  sup- 
port by  the  church-membership  as  a  whole  and 
the  donation  of  the  school's  offerings  direct  to  the 
various  benevolences  is  also  a  point  worthy  of 
note.  And  a  capital  idea  is  involved  in  the  adult 
teacher's  felicitous  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  his 
pupils  rather  than  a  rigid  inquisitlveness  on  the  one 
hand  or  a  condescending  sermonette  on  the  other. 

ATTENDANCE  AND  LEADERS 

A  good  average  of  more  than  two  hundred,  and 
this  is  largely  the  key  to  the  situation :  the  men 
and  women  come,  the  children  are  not  sent,  but 
brought;  for  there  are  twenty  or  more  full 
families,  every  member  of  which  is  in  the  habit 
of  attending  Sunday-school.  There  are  few  old 
people  in  the  community,  but  several  of  them  are 
here  every  Sunday  with  children  and  grandchildren 
studying  the  word  of  God. 

Of  the  officers,  the  pastor  Is  a  regularly  enrolled 


A  SUCCESSFUL  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  I9 

member  of  the  men's  class,  and  he  takes  his  seat 
as  a  student  therein  every  Sunday  he  is  at  home. 
The  superintendent,  after  opening  the  school, 
drops  into  the  same  class  for  most  of  the  teaching 
period.  The  assistant  supplies  teachers,  greets 
visitors,  and  occasionally  teaches  a  class.  The 
secretary  is  accurate  and  faithful  in  his  record. 
The  treasurer  turns  over  the  collections  period- 
ically to  the  church  treasurer  through  whose  hands 
all  church  funds  must  pass. 

The  teachers  are  usually  present ;  but  in  case  of 
foreseen  absence  each  one  is  expected  to  pro- 
vide for  his  class  a  substitute,  notified  in  ample 
time  to  have  made  specific  preparation  for  teach- 
ing the  class.  If  for  some  reason  this  is  over- 
looked, the  duty  of  supplying  the  class  with  a 
teacher  devolves,  as  just  stated,  on  the  assistant 
superintendent. 

TRAITS  THAT  TELL 

Among  many  characteristics  that  might  be 
named,  three  are  manifest  and  predominant: 

1.  Simplicity.  No  complicated  machinery;  no 
doubtful  expedients ;  yet  an  aggressive  conserva- 
tism ;  and  everything  as  clear  as  noonday  to  the 
entire  school. 

2.  Sociability.  You  feel  it  before  you  enter 
the  church  door;    as  the   school  assembles  it  is 


20  THE  COUNTRY   SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

manifest  in  every  seat  and  aisle ;  as  the  classes  go 
to  their  places  it  reappears  without  a  ripple  of  con- 
fusion; and  when  school  is  over,  there  is  the 
neighborly  interchange  of  greeting,  inquiry,  and 
fellowship.  *'  Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant 
it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity!" 

3.  Spirituality.  Place  here  the  accent  of  the 
school's  life  and  activities.  The  school  is  not  for 
social  contact  or  mental  culture,  much  less  for  en- 
tertainment or  gossip,  but  through  the  diffusion  of 
Scripture  knowledge  to  secure  and  deepen  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  people.  Plenty  of  good  cheer 
and  vivacity,  to  be  sure,  but  not  a  needle's  point 
of  room  for  frivolity  or  flippancy;  the  service 
throughout  breathes  the  spirit  of  devotion ;  these 
workers  are  earnest  Christians,  and  their  meeting- 
house is  their  sanctuary,  house  of  prayer,  gate  of 
heaven.  The  meeting  for  teaching  is  clearly  and 
correctly  a  meeting  for  worship. 

Such,  in  brief  sketch,  is  one  successful  Sunday- 
school  in  the  country ;  there  are  others ;  and  may 
there  be  many,  many  more ! 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE   IN  A  COUNTRY 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

TO  begin  with,  you  can  have  a  live,  wide-awake 
Sunday-school;  for  a  Sunday-school  is  pos- 
sible wherever  a  church  is  possible  and  at  many 
points  besides.  If  you  haven't  a  corps  of  com- 
petent officers  and  teachers,  take  the  best  you 
have  and  make  the  most  of  them.  If  you  haven't 
a  man  who  can  lead  the  work,  enlist  a  good  con- 
secrated woman.  If  no  local  member  is  available, 
call  on  a  neighboring  sister  church  to  supply 
workers.  And  if  this  is  not  practicable,  at  least 
the  pastor  can  on  his  visits  conduct  a  specimen 
school.  The  attendants  maybe  few,  unorganized, 
illiterate ;  the  supplies  may  be  limited  to  Bible  and 
hymn-book;  the  meeting-place  may  be  school- 
house,  mill-shack,  or  brush-arbor;  yet  if  you  will 
you  can,  and  if  you  can  you  should,  have  the 
livest  and  best  Sunday-school  possible  in  your 
church  and  community. 

You   can   keep   the   school   open   all  the  year. 
Many  hundreds  are  still  in  the  habit  of  going  into 

21 


22  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

**  winter  quarters,"  but  in  keeping  the  school  ever- 
green, as  in  most  things  else,  *' where  there's  a 
will,  there's  a  way." 

You  can  begin  on  time.  One  superintendent 
closes  his  school  in  this  way:  **  You  are  dismissed 
till  next  Sunday  morning  fifteen  minutes  to  ten." 
When  that  minute  arrives  he  opens  school;  and 
the  folks  are  there  to  meet  him.  And,  what  is 
almost  as  important,  he  closes  on  time. 

Your  church  building-  has  possibly  only  one 
room  and  you  feel  that  separate  apartments  are 
needed,  especially  for  the  younger  classes.  Sev- 
eral schools  have  built  onto  the  rear  of  the  pulpit 
one  or  two  primary  rooms  at  small  expense.  One 
uses  for  the  smaller  children  a  schoolhouse  stand- 
ing on  the  church  grounds.  Another  curtains  off 
on  movable  frames  each  corner  of  the  church,  thus 
changing  one  room  into  five. 

Of  course  you  can  and  will  freely  utilize  your 
pastor.  Several  pastors  have  said  that  they  would 
not  serve  a  church  where  a  Sunday-school  could 
not  be  maintained;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  no 
church  should  have  a  pastor  who  opposes,  ignores, 
or  even  declines  to  countenance  or  assist  in  the 
Sunday-school.      One  pastor  of  four  churches  has 


WHAT  CAN  BE   DONE  23 

his  name  enrolled  in  each  of  his  Sunday-schools 
and  is  ready  on  time  every  time  to  be  instructed  or 
instruct  and  encourage  the  Sunday-school  in  every 
way  within  his  power. 

You  can  have  your  school  well  classified.  No 
hair-splitting,  whether  pedagogical  or  psycholog- 
ical, is  necessary;  as  many  another  school  has 
been,  so  yours  may  be,  arranged  on  broad,  safe, 
and  simple  lines. 

You  can  have  special  class  organization  if  you 
want  it.  A  country  school  near  Raleigh  has  forty- 
seven  young  men  in  its  Baraca  Class.  In  another 
there  is  a  flourishing  Philathea  Class. 

Faithful  attendance  can  be  fostered  in  various 
ways.  For  instance:  in  one  small  school  a 
Bible  was  offered  to  each  pupil  who  would  be 
present  every  Sunday  during  the  year.  One  Sab- 
bath a  furious  snowstorm  was  just  abating,  but  the 
blind  superintendent  rode  three  miles  to  church 
that  his  own  attendance  might  be  unbroken  and 
he  found  a  boy  there  who  had  come  three  miles 
from  another  direction.     The  boy  got  his  Bible. 

As  to  reco7^d,  you  can  and  should  have  a  good 
record  book,  register  the  name  of  every  scholar, 


24  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

note  the  facts  accurately  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
report  regularly  (at  least  once  a  year)  to  the  church 
in  conference,  and  send  complete  statistics  to  your 
district  Association. 

As  to  music,  it  is  a  matter  of  common  observa- 
tion that  some  of  the  very  best  is  to  be  heard  in 
country  schools.  Plenty  of  the  right  sort  of  books 
and  a  good  leader  are  needed. 

You  can  introduce  Bible  drills  before  or  after 
teaching  the  regular  lesson.  In  the  mountains, 
miles  from  the  railroad,  there  is  a  live  worker  who 
has  in  his  school  a  chart  of  the  Bible  books  and 
has  drilled  his  pupils  on  it  so  thoroughly  that  they 
not  only  know  the  names  of  the  books  but  certain 
facts  about  and  in  each  book. 

You  can  give  special  emphasis  to  memorizing 
Scripture.  One  superintendent  asks  each  pupil  to 
get  a  verse  on  a  given  subject  for  the  following 
Sunday  so  that  on  roll-call  each  may  respond  with 
a  suitable  verse.  Another  makes  room  in  the 
school  hour  for  memory-drill  in  concert  on  such 
passages  as  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments.  Others 
have  offered  prizes  for  memorizing  the  most  verses 
within   a    given    period :    for   example,    in   North 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE  25 

Carolina  during  this  year  (1905)  one  young  lady 
memorized  fifteen  hundred  verses  in  one  week  and 
another  memorized  within  three  months  twelve 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  verses ! 

You  can  develop  the  viissionary  spirit.  A 
little  school  of  about  forty  members  keeps  in  regu- 
lar touch  with  a  foreign  missionary  and  frequently 
letters  from  him  are  read  before  the  school. 

You  can  cultivate  the  spirit  of  givhig  by  pre- 
senting objects  that  appeal  particularly  to  the  chil- 
dren. For  example,  about  four  hundred  schools 
(many  of  them  rural)  in  North  Carolina  are  in  the 
habit  of  giving  one  collection  each  month  to  the 
Baptist  Orphanage  at  Thomasville.  We  have  one 
country  school  which  gives  it  offerings  every  Sun- 
day to  missions  and  other  benevolences,  the  church 
having  arranged  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  for 
all  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  school. 

You  can  have  a  rally  to  arouse  interest  in  Sun- 
day-school work.  In  your  own  school  it  may 
work  charmingly,  if  you  have  it  at  the  right  time 
(preferably  in  the  spring),  and  let  the  folks  know 
of  it  in  time  to  get  there.  The  union  of  the  sev- 
eral schools  of  a  county  or  section  in  a  special, 
well-planned  rally  has  also  proven  of  value. 


26  THE  COUNTRY  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

At  your  own  church  or  in  reach,  you  can  have 
the  benefit  of  a7i  occasional  Sunday-school  institute 
especially  designed  for  the  training  of  workers. 
Thus  in  North  Carolina,  a  rural  commonwealth, 
we  (the  Baptists)  are  seeking  to  have  one  or  more 
Sunday-school  institutes  a  year  in  the  bounds  of 
each  of  our  sixty  Associations;  the  contact  with 
and  culture  of  ten  thousand  workers  is  a  great  task, 
but  strategic  and  v/orth  while  most  assuredly. 

You  can,  as  a  school,  buy  a  few  books  for  the 
use  of  your  officers  and  teachers.  More  schools 
than  one  have  this  year  bought  a  suggested  half- 
dozen  of  the  best  books  on  the  Sunday-school  for 
the  officers  and  teachers  to  read  by  turns  and  the 
whole  school  has  been  thereby  greatly  benefited. 

You  can  follow  up  the  school  with  an  extra 
service  on  Sundays  when  you  do  not  have  preach- 
ing. In  one  small  school  the  superintendent  used 
to  read  a  sermon  by  Spurgeon  on  each  of  the  three 
Sundays  a  month  when  the  church  was  without 
preaching. 

It  may  be  that  you  can  have  one  or  more  branch 
schools.  In  one  church  with  a  large  membership 
pretty  widely  scattered,  there  are  four  branch 
schools.     A  hill-country  church  has  an  afternoon 


WHAT  CAN   BE   DONE  27 

Sunday-school  at  a  schoolhouse  three  miles  away ; 
it  has  ninety  enrolled,  is  now  for  the  first  time 
braving  the  winter,  and  is  superintended  by  a  boy 
fourteen  years  old ! 

Chief  of  all,  you  can  make  your  school  increas- 
ingly an  evangelistic  force.  The  great  majority 
of  conversions — eighty-five  per  cent,  or  more,  we 
are  told — are  from  our  Sunday-school  ranks.  See 
if  this  does  not  correspond,  in  the  main,  with  your 
experience.  Here,  then,  is  your  supreme  work, 
the  ripest  and  the  richest  field  for  Christian  effort 
to-day.  Enter  it  more  fully,  fervently,  faithfully, 
and  may  you  gather  much  golden  grain ! 


